We’d want to guarantee instructors, students, and Laura McInerney (The faulty obsession with Stem topics is in charge for the decline in English A-ranges, 16 July) that the organizations that guide the discipline of English have been addressing this trouble head-on on account that 2017. For example, we’ve got collaborated to produce material to counter myths and incorrect information about the issue (to be had at the English and Media Centre internet site); we’ve got held discussions with the Department for Education, and we’ve got canvassed throughout the world (the most recent annual survey is on the National Association for the Teaching of English website).
Employers virtually rate English and the capabilities it teaches: English graduates are successful in a wide variety of graduate careers. Our Action on Employability in English event on 16 September at Northumbria University will assignment the misrepresentations of the situation that McInerney highlights. The huge English: Shared Futures celebration and convention in Manchester in June 2020 can address this subject matter constructively. Responding to extensive-ranging evidence that student dissatisfaction with the new GCSE has discouraged many from continuing to A-stage, we are also lobbying for a richer enjoyment of the challenge at GCSE: the curriculum in English should suggest a good deal greater than exam preparation.
Barbara Bleiman Editor, English and Media Centre, Martin Halliwell President, English Association, Rob Penman Chair, English Association, Jennifer Richards English Association HE committee, Sean McEvoy, Robert Eaglestone English Association, Katy Shaw, Gail Marshall University English, Clare Lees Director, Institute of English Studies, Jonathan Morgan Director, National Association for the Teaching of English, Seraphima Kennedy Director, National Association of Writers in Education, David Duff Chair, Common English Forum, and 4 others (see gu.Com/letters)
• I strongly agree that we want human beings reading arts subjects and that pitting maths in opposition to English is a counterproductive endeavor that misses the point – one isn’t objectively better than the alternative for society. But what’s objective is the truth that statistically, many college students might be higher off studying for a technology degree.
Laura McInerney mentions that computer technological know-how has the highest unemployment price. However, she fails to mention that the common wage of an arts graduate is at the bottom of all stages. This indicates that there may be much less cost delivered from reading an arts degree than a technology degree. Some human beings have to study English, but the truth is that within the modern gadget of lessons prices a diploma is funding. In this environment, choosing what to take a look at university should no longer be a count number of selecting what you like irrespective of the economic truth.
Tom McIver
Belfast
• Again, the government complains that universities are awarding too many first-rate degrees and plans to intervene to reduce this alleged grade inflation (Report, 12 July). As ever, ministers refuse to know well that this might be an instantaneous outcome in their “marketization” of better training. When fees have been raised to £9,000, the college’s minister, David Willetts, said he wanted to “placed college students within the using seat.” Meanwhile, universities were informed to function as agencies, emphasizing giving their “customers” (students) what they need. Well, what most students need is a great degree.
Add to this state of affairs the obsession with the yearly National Student Survey, college league tables, more and more vocal and litigious college students (and mother and father), and a incredibly competitive graduate activity marketplace. It’s hardly ever surprising that many universities and teachers feel beneath steady stress to award better grades and ranges. In impact, their jobs depend on preserving current students satisfied and hoping to draw destiny students to their college.
As ever, even though Torie’s kneejerk reaction to the completely predictable final results of their reforms is to blame universities, in preference to the dogma and idiocy of the Tories’ very own schooling policies. The outcome? One minute, we advocate an unfastened marketplace in better education and the following minute, yet more Soviet-style intervention by using the country.
Pete Dorey
If you revel in the running with youngsters, have a love for learning, and own robust multi-tasking abilities, you could have thought approximately becoming a trainer at some unspecified time in the future. Now is a superb time to begin incomes the credentials, considering that this profession has been projected to grow by way of 12 percent between 2006 and 2016, growing approximately 479,000 new coaching jobs. Teaching requires certification that is most customarily obtained thru a bachelor’s diploma program. If you are inquisitive about completing a bachelor’s diploma, numerous online packages are to be had. If you already have a bachelor’s diploma in any problem, many applications are presenting online Master’s levels in education that can be finished in two years.
Benefits to Earning an Online Degree
While there are various benefits to earning your schooling degree online, they may be summed up with one word: flexibility. You can get the whole coursework at your very own tempo, each time and anyplace it’s convenient for you. If you have a task or a family that maintains you from traditional classes, you can do the coursework in the evenings or at the weekends. The bendy timetable also means that you may find paintings complete-time, which makes supporting yourself and procuring classes a chunk easier.
What to Expect from an Online Education Degree
If you pursue an online bachelor’s or Master’s diploma in schooling, you can expect to take ordinary schooling classes such as the subsequent:
Teaching Methods
Classroom Management
Theories of Learning
Educational Law
Curriculum Development
You will complete both practicums and student teaching to get actual life to enjoy teaching and dealing with a category. If your online coursework is synchronous, you will take part in online discussions or videoconferencing at unique times; if your coursework is asynchronous, you will whole lessons and take part in getting to know activities at your very own tempo.
Tips for Earning an Online Education Degree
Set aside time to work on your online degree every day. While you may need the whole coursework at your own pace, you will examine it more efficaciously if you examine it frequently. Ensure the college you pick for completing your online education diploma is permitted and may prepare you for coaching inside the unique subject you select. As all states require the passing of an examination for certification, be sure the online education diploma software you enroll in can prepare you. Network with other training experts. Many instructors will inform you that a number of their greatest resources are different teachers. If you’re feeling quick on notion or creativity, teachers can provide advice and help to get you via a few difficult coursework moments